In recent years, there has been progress in the development of light-emitting devices using organic EL. Such light-emitting devices are used as illumination devices or display devices and configured of an organic layer interposed between a first electrode and a second electrode. Generally, a light-transmitting material is used for the first electrode, and a metal material is used for the second electrode.
One of the light-emitting devices which utilizes the organic EL is a technology described in Patent Document 1. In order to provide an organic EL element with optical transparency (or a “see-through” property), the technology in Patent Document 1 provides the second electrode only in a portion of a substrate. In such a configuration, since a region located between a plurality of second electrodes transmits light, the organic EL element is capable of having optical transparency.
Further, Patent Document 2 describes providing a mirror layer in a position overlapping an active region of the organic layer in the organic EL element in which a portion of the organic layer is an inactive region and additionally, the second electrode is provided with optical transparency.